Why do the fastest bicycles have very thin tires, while the fastest cars have very wide tires?

Question

Can someone explain this?

In: Physics

Answer 1

A person would be lucky to make 1 horsepower. A $60,000 Corvette has 500. A bike with rider might weigh about 200 lbs while a Corvette weighs 3,500.

So a bike tire needs to be small, light, and aerodynamic so that a human can spin it as fast as possible while it only holds up a few pounds. A Corvette tire has to be wide enough to reasonably transfer 500 horsepower to the ground. The levels of grip needed to allow a car to accelerate and corner necessitate more rubber.